ASSESSMENT, RECORDING & REPORTING

No: 02 THE THOMAS AVELING SCHOOL POLICY for ASSESSMENT, RECORDING & REPORTING Policy: June 2005 Ratified by Governing Body Reviewed: April 2008 Reviewed & amended Jan 2010 (MBA) Ratified by FGB June 2010 Reviewed & amended Sept 2011 (MBA) Ratified by FGB November 2011 Reviewed: April 2013 Reviewed: May 2015 1

1 INTRODUCTION The Thomas Aveling School s Assessment Policy endorses and promotes the school aims. It is our intention to further reinforce the following school aims through the Assessment Policy:- a) To create a culture of continuous enquiry and a focus of raising pupil achievement and attainment through pupils regular and varied assessment that allows them to know where they are now and the specific steps they need to take to achieve even more highly. b) To encourage excellence and a sense of personal achievement in all aspects of school life. c) To promote in our students ambition and self-discipline and a sense of ownership and enjoyment of learning. d) To be a caring community, sensitive to the welfare and development of its students and staff. e) To actively promote equal opportunities for all and to help students develop respect and tolerance for the religious, cultural and moral values of others. f) To develop the school as an active and integral part of the community particularly emphasizing the partnership between school and family. g) To equip our students with the knowledge and the skills necessary to participate effectively in a rapidly changing world. In order to achieve this the Assessment Policy should serve four purposes:- a) FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT. Formative assessment should be continuous, planned and integral to the teaching and learning process. It provides immediate information and evidence for the teacher and the student about their learning experiences which can then be used to plan the next step. It tells the student where they are and what to do next to be successful b) SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT. Summative assessment is concerned with a summing of up the student s achievements at the end of each unit of work. Its purpose is to provide an accurate picture of the student s learning and progress. It will be used to inform the student, parents, other teachers and potential employers on progress and achievement. c) DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT. Diagnostic assessment is used to classify and assess the learning difficulties and successes of a student in order to provide the appropriate help and guidance. 2

d) EVALUATIVE ASSESSMENT. Evaluative assessment will be used by the school to inform staff of the effectiveness of their planning, teaching and the learning outcomes for students. 2 PRINCIPLES The principles of the school assessment policy are to: a) Help students learn and progress more effectively by: Involving them fully in the assessment of their work. Informing students, teachers and parents about progress and attainment. Identifying strengths and weaknesses. Enable learners to reflect on the learning process. Indicating the next step in the learning process. Motivate students to do their best. b) help teachers evaluate their teaching by: Identifying strengths and weaknesses in the teaching programme. Identifying strengths and weaknesses in the teaching style. Identifying the next stage in the teaching programme. Identifying which students need reinforcement and which need extension. c) To inform others by: Providing information for parents and relatives. Providing information for colleagues and managers. Providing information to assist transfer. Providing information for guidance and referral. Providing information for the DFES and the public. 3 THE ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE 3.1 ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS WORK Our school marking policy is informed by the school aims of:- Encouraging excellence and a sense of personal achievement, and Promoting students self-discipline and enjoyment of learning. Regular assessment of student s work is a crucial element in the learning process. Assessments can be reported verbally or in writing. Verbal assessment is usually formative and can lead to changes in performance. We need to be aware that, if not treated with sensitivity, verbal assessments could have negative outcomes. Written 3

assessment can be both summative and formative. The former provides an essential record in which teachers can chart the progress of students. Assessment of students work can take place using a variety of methods from marking books to videoing performances. It is important that students are given the opportunity for self-assessment. Departments will look at methods to encourage this in ways appropriate to the methodology of the subject area. In order to standardise good practice across the school, Subject Leaders will be responsible for ensuring the following: a) It will be clear to students what is being assessed in each piece of work by sharing the marking assessment criteria for success with them. b) All work to be monitored and regular, habitual self-assessment and peer-assessment will be over-marked by the teacher. c) Key assessment pieces agreed in the departmental Scheme of Work to be formatively assessed against agreed and shared criteria on a termly basis. Teachers will record these in class or homework task assessments to be shared with Head of Subject of Key Stage Co-ordinator, to allow the tracking of pupil progress through teacher assessment of key pieces. d) The method of assessment will be appropriate for the task to be assessed and consistent across the department. e) Assessment should motivate students to recognise strengths and areas for development. f) Assessment will identify learning targets. 3.2 ASSESSMENT IN THE CURRICULUM Each Department has a broad and balanced curriculum which is set by the Subject Leader for that Department. As part of arranging the learning experiences to be taught the subject leader will also plan regular assessment of units of work, which will provide summative evidence of each student s performance against pre-agreed criteria. This evidence through both teacher assessment and formal written assessments will be used to assist student progress and identify targets for further development. The Curriculum will be delivered as effectively as possible to enable students to reach their maximum potential. To facilitate this, the school will: a) Ensure all curriculum areas include units of work linked to National Curriculum 4

b) Keep records for each student to ensure good progress in relation to the National Curriculum c) Report on National Curriculum levels in years 7 and 8 to ensure that students and teachers know current levels and expected target levels d) Continue to develop its methods of recording. Subject Leaders will be responsible for inducting new staff into the present systems of monitoring and recording. They will also be responsible for managing the training in, and guidance on, new systems as and when they become available. 3.3 INTERNALLY MANAGED EXAMINATIONS The purposes of internal examinations are to serve a range of needs: a. Students will experience working under examination conditions. Both classrooms and examination halls can be used for this purpose. If students are familiar with examinations held in large spaces, this should allow them to concentrate on the task in hand, rather than being distracted by the environment. b. Internal examinations should inform student, teacher and parent of the student s progress and attainment. The Key Stage tests provide summative information which will inform subject teachers planning. School internal examinations should generate information that can lead to individual improvement. It is important, therefore, that students examination results are followed up so that areas of weakness can be identified and targeted. The testing procedures will, therefore, be aimed at specific skills, processes and content. c. Internal exams usually take place in December (for Year 11 only as mock examinations ) and in June for Years 7-10. The exam papers are set by Subject Leaders and the marks are standardized and fed back to students, colleagues and parents to benchmark progress. 3.4 EXTERNALLY MANAGED EXAMINATIONS The day to day organisation of the external examinations will be the responsibility of the Examinations Officer, reporting to the Deputy Head (Curriculum) and AHT in charge of examinations. The school s procedures will be in line with the regulations of the examination boards. A number of modular exams and terminal examination papers for years 9-13 take place across the school year. 3.5 ACADEMIC PLANNER The Student Planner forms an important means of communication between home and school. It can be used to recognise the efforts and achievement of students in several ways: 5

a) Through he use of comments and reminders by teachers and parents. b) Through the recording of Merits, Postcards and other praise awards c) Students providing examples of personal achievements, responsibilities and service to the community, on the appropriate pages. Homework should be recorded by students in the Academic Planner and in SIMs, as part of the school s Homework Policy. Tasks and deadlines should be clearly set out, so that the students and parents can easily follow them. Form Tutors and DoLs will regularly monitor the use of Academic Planners to check for quality and progress. 3.6 HOMEWORK Homework is a valuable means of extending and consolidating students learning, as well as developing their self discipline and organisational skills. Effective habits of regular home learning should be developed from Year 7 so that homework is seen by students and parents as an integral and essential part of a student s personal development. Teachers should set homework in accordance with the Homework Policy and departmental expectations. Homework should be marked, graded or commented upon as appropriate, in order to provide regular feedback to students. It should be recognised that this is highly motivating and aids target setting. 3.7 PUBLIC CELEBRATION AND REINFORCEMENT OF EXCELLENCE. a) Merits The aim of the merit system is to quickly motivate and reward students good work or positive behaviour and attitude. The merit system is linked to the positive behaviour log and provides instant feedback to the student, form tutor DoL and parents about good acts of work and behaviour that a student performs. b) Postcards home The aim of the postcards home is to motivate and reward/celebrate a student s personal successes. These are completed by staff and record the student s particular 6

achievements. The completed postcards are sent home to parents. Postcards are sent for a range of activities, including academic success, improved effort of progress as well as contributing to the whole school community. Students are then able to use these as part of their self assessment for their end of year profile. They also provide a focus for ongoing dialogue between Form Tutor and student. Postcards are recorded on the behaviour log system and contribute towards total House points a) Nomination for House Celebration Assembly The aim of achievement assemblies is to celebrate publicly outstanding achievement both in and out of school. These take place towards the end of each term where there is a House Achievement Assembly led by the DoL ADoL House Captains and Link AHTs. Students may be nominated and their shared by the DoL for them to come up and collect awards in front of their House peers. b) Prize Giving/Presentation Evening The culmination of the reward system within the school is the Prize Giving Evening, held in the Autumn Term, when individual student and subject prizes, as nominated by subject staff are presented.. 3.8 REPORTING STUDENT PROGRESS All assessment and reporting procedures satisfy legal requirement. There is an opportunity for dialogue between parents and the school at least one a term. One of these opportunities is through a full written Progress Report for every student. Reports also appear on SIMs and are available to parents instantly on line via secure log in to SIMs Learning Gateway.. Parents can therefore keep a regular close check on their son/daughters progress grades and also the merits and events on the behaviour log. Progress Reports are written without jargon and comment on the students : - academic achievement and progress since the last report - positive achievements and attitude to learning - areas for development as a learner and to make progress in the subject Reports are written in a constructive, informative way, in order to motivate all students. In addition, near the start of the year all students and parents are invited to appointments as part of the school s Academic Review Week to discuss progress so far and set targets for the year ahead to ensure a joint focus. Students received Progress Grades at this meeting 7

Pupil Tracking Records Name Gen SEN Eth KS2 APS CAT FFT Prob Solv Com Reas John Smith M SA+ WENG 29 110 B 4a 5c 4a Susan Jones F ----- WENG 21 95 D 5c 4a 5c Teachers should keep careful records of pupil data and use these to inform planning, differentiation and reporting. These can be shared with SLs, pupils or parents if there are concerns of underachievement. Data used in this way can shed light on otherwise hidden situations and reveal underachievement, ensuring no student falls through the cracks. From the example teacher mark book above, it is clear that John Smith is very able but has a learning difficulty, and is in fact underachieving compared with Susan Jones, who is making above expected progress in year 8 maths for key assessments in Problem Solving, Communicating and Reasoning. The teacher might then use this to plan an intervention with John to remove any obstacles to inline progress. One of the main benefits of regular assessment is allowing the student and teacher to act upon the information to improve. 4 ASSESSMENT for LEARNING (AfL) The central tenet of Assessment for Learning is that assessment can have a positive influence upon students learning. The school has invested considerable time and resources on staff training in AfL. Assessment for Learning techniques should be embedded in class teaching practice and departmental plans across the school. It has been clearly demonstrated that good regular use of the principles of AfL can greatly enhance progress and understanding. These include regular use of peer and self assessment of class and homework, rich pupil teacher dialogue, use of deep questioning techniques to extend and strengthen learning, and sharing of success criteria and progress made with all learners and clear next steps to higher achievement, providing regular feedback that moves learners forward. Blockages can be identified and students and teachers can quickly see if they are on the right flight path. This regular joint teacherpupil review of learning should be planned into lessons as should key higher order questions that measure the learning aims, and differentiated tasks that take account of the needs of all learners 5 LEARNING TARGETS Teachers should regularly mark students work and use this to set next step learning targets with individual students. These can be written into students books to be regularly reviewed. This sort of forward looking approach can be very motivational. Students learn best when they know exactly where there are and what they need to work on next. 8

Students may use level ladders to look at where they are with their learning and what the characteristics of the next successful grade are. 6 USE OF DATA FOR INTERVENTIONS We are all now teaching in a new data-rich world. As illustrated above, the school as a whole and individual class teachers have broader access to data which can be used to track progress, make tactical interventions and share information. It can shine a new light on otherwise hidden issues and ascertain the needs of individual students. It can be used to ensure no student falls through the cracks and identify strong and weak performance in topics. It can highlight student achievement and identify gaps in knowledge. The school data manager ensures that current class data is available on the SIMs system and that comparative data from end of term assessments is available to Heads of Subject. Subject leaders provide class teachers with information about student attendance incoming points scores, SEN G&T and other relevant data. It is important that class teachers keep up to date personal records of students performance and share these with students Heads of Subject and parents to help maintain a focus on student achievement 7 PROGRESS REPORTS AND DATA Staff should meet the requirements of sharing regular Progress Grades and Progress Reports as advertised on the calendar. There are at least 3 opportunities for grades to be input with a further opportunity for all year groups in Y7 to 11 to receive a progress report (written report) which should state what progress has been made but also set targets for further improvements. Subject leaders MUST QA the data before the school deadline to ensure accuracy and content. Policy June 2005 Reviewed April 2008 - KGU Reviewed & amended Jan 2010 (MBA) Ratified by FGB June 2010 Reviewed and amended November 2011 (MBA) Ratified by FGB Nov 2011 Reviewed April 2013 (MBA) Reviewed May 2015 (MBA/PJA) 9